Box and method of making same



:Iime 10, 1930. H. B. SMITH BOX AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME VENTOR A TTORNE Y Jar 1e10, 1930. B.'$MITH 1,762,703

I BOX AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Original Fiied Jan. 12, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,4 T'TORNE Y H. B. SMITH BOX AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Or iginal Filed Jan. 12, 192:5

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 11v VEN T OR Var/q fink/9mm? 6/1/1271 B y 144 A TTORNEV June 10, 1930. H. B. SMITH BOX AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Jan. 12, 1925 1N VENTOR ry Eddy/rm 6/11/27? i'zfi June 10, 1930. B. SMITEI 1,762,703

BOX AND METHOD OFMAKIhfG SAME Original Filed Jan. 12, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTORNE Y5 Patented June 10, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT orrrcr:

HARRY BRIDGMAN SMITH, E BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIG NQR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 HOAGUE-SPRAGUE CORPORATION, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A COR- BORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS Application filed January 12, 1923, Serial No. 612,168, Renewed September 24, 1926.

This invention relates to new and improved methods of producing'boxes in the general class of paper boxes, although the component materials are not necessarily limited to paper.

The present methods and boxes made in accordance. with them are similar in certain respects to previous methods and boxes of my invention as disclosed in various patents;

=and pending applications, with important modifications and improvements. The pres ent methods are in general accordance with my previous continuous box production methods in that box forming materials are advanced continuously'froin a source of supply such as a roll, and after suitable operations are performed upon the continuous strips of materials, or continuous assemblies, parts of uniform size and shape are severed fromthe assembly, producing individual box blanks, which are then folded andsecured inner edge'inargin of the box, and also having corner laps which in many cases consist of combined shell and finishing or covering'ma terial' turn (1 in and overlaid by the end .wing portions 0 the box blank.

The present invention is the result of elaborate study and experimentation with the general object of providing box forms and methods which conform to multifarious requirements and conditions in the art of commercial box making, with the result that boxes of improved construction are supplied at exceedinglylow costand the demands of box consumers are met more satisfactorily than heretofore.

The invention-takes into consideration not only, the form or structure of the finished boxes but the'mutual adaptation, of these forms or structures and the production methods; the nature .of available materials with the object of producing boxes of relatively high grade or quality with relatively low grade'or cheap materials where such economies are desirable, and the adaptation of the structures and the methods of the different materials employed for the foregoing and other reasons; the adaptation of the box or box blank forms to a desirable range of size. and dimensional variations; and the demands of box consumers in respect to the labeling or printing of the boxes with adverfilsing or'decorative subject matter and the In certain preferred embodiments-of the invention asherein disclosed box body or shell material-such as cardor fibre-board is advanced continuously from a roll and at a convenient point a continuous strip or web of suitable covering or finishing material, such as paper of suitable quality, is applied to a surface of the shell Web with interposed adhesive, desirably in many cases with longitudinal margins of the cover web projecting beyond'the edges of the shell. These margins are then turned over and secured; suitable incisions or excisions are made in the continuous materials to free' certain parts for subsequent folding, for instance, the corner laps, and also to produce the proper end formation of the individual blanks, longitudinal and transverse score lines or creases are formed in the materials to facilitate folding and the individual blanks are then severed andfolded into box form, all this being in general accordance with the previous methods of my invention.

From'the point Where the cover web is applied to the shell Web a continuous strip or Web of box forming hiaterial is produced, having on one face, that is, the face of the shell covered by the cover paper, a suitably finished surface which is to be the outer surface of the completed box. The method may be understood as commencing, in certain cases, with operations performed upon such a continuous Web of box forming material, however'produced, and the shell web with" its applied cover web is therefore one example of suitably surfaced or finished shell or boxboard material which may be operated upon to produce the individual box forming blanks.

An important object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide methods admitting of the utilization of such substantially complete. finished box forming material, whether it consists of card-board or fibreboard, with an originally separate surface sheet of finishing paper, or such cardor fibreboardtreated or processed in any suitable Way to provide a desirable surface finish. To

this end the method steps are in general de-- vised and related to each other so that all necessary operations may be performed on a continuous complete web of box formlng-material,or upon the Web after the assemblyof the shell and cover strips has been effected, as previously mentioned; although 1n certam csases some operations may be performed upon one or another of the continuous materials prior to assembly contact.

In certain preferred performances of the process, and especially in the particular exemplifications shown in the present application, therefore, the inventlon' provides for performing all or substantially all, of the operations'upon the box form ng strip or assembly beyond the point of assembly contact when such materials are originally separate.

- The invention includesthe creasing or scoring of the continuous box forming web to provide folding lines. These lines may be in a broad sense any suitable scorelines or creases. Score lines, however,tend to weaken the ,materials and are therefore usually avoided. Deep bead creases are .very desirable as permitting the proper be'nding or folding of relatively thick or composite material, and in certain preferred lnstances the transverse folding lines are produced in the form of such deep, gathered, or bead creases. Owing to the nature of the materials and their I method of manipulation it is'relatively difficult or impracticable in certain cases to form f such creases longitudinally of the materials;

this is true particularly because the bodyor shell material inmost cases is not readlly drawn inlaterally by available creasing mechanisms as it progresses longitudinally,

. to form such creases. To avoid this difiiculty and at the same time to provide proper longitudinal fold lines the invention, provides,

' as an important feature, for removing poras chip or fibre-board, which is relatively brittle, and in'whichthe deep, bead or gath- My previous inventions in this art, above referred to, provide coyered boxes conforming to all the requirements of the trade for covered boxes (of the highest quality and finish, that is to say, they provide boxes the outward surfaces of which-are entirely covered and concealed by the cover paper; all the edges of the shell are covered and concealed by the cover paper, and margins of the cover paperare turned, in and secured along the inner edge margins of the shell to provide an appearance and finish that is demanded in boxes of this class. An important object of the presentlinvention is to provide production methods, and box forms adaptable to such methods, which closely approach or simulate covered boxes of the highest class just referred to, but in which notable economies are effected by omitting certain items in the finish, and more particularly by omitting the covering of certain edges of the shell material, and in which, more particula-rly stated, the side or end edges of the shell end wings may be left moreor less uncovered. Boxes of this type are produced by cutting the assembly materials so that along certain edges of the assembly end wings, the cover and shell edges are substanti-ally'even or parallel, without any, or any considerable projection of the cover material beyond the shell edges, and when these wing portions are folded up outside the corner laps the shelledges are therefore more or less exposed. This is unobjectionable in boxes of certain types and used for certain purposes, and such boxes may be made at lower cost, both with regard to the method steps and the material, than the more highly finished boxes. Insome preferred cases when the-blanks are cut in the manner just stated the edges of the cover material may be pressed and stretched over the adjacent edges of the shell material to a substantial extent so that the edges of the shell material are partially or substantially concealed and therefore the completed box presents nearly the same appearance as the most highly fi1i-' ished boxes, without, however, requiring all of the process steps or structural features involved in boxes having completely finished or covered shell edges. This item relates to only one feature of the invention, and other features are adaptable to boxes of other forms than the specific .form just mentioned.

One important object of the invention is to provide a method of producing a type of box and box blank which in certainstyles or dimensional forms admits of the continin which the end wings are longer than the corner laps, or vice versa.

In many cases there is a demand for lined boxes, that is, boxes in which the inner surface of the shell material is overlaid by finishing paper of attractive appearance. The

invention therefore includes, in connection with other features, methods of producing lined boxes, and method steps for applying lining material to the shell Web, or continuous box-forming assembly.

' In many cases it is desirable to provide for strengthening the structure either with the object of resisting strains in handling the completed boxes or the strains imposed on them in shipping them with their contents, or to properly reinforce the box blanksto permit proper or easier folding or to reinforce the completed boxes along the fold lines. In certain classes of boxes it is very desirable that the box parts be reinforced near the wall edges, and cords have been placed around these edges to resist breaking strains. The present invention provides methods and method steps for incorporating such a cord reinforcement, and ina broader aspect it also provides for supplying other reinforcements at the stated point in the completed box part or at other points including fold lines. and the reinforcements may consist of cords or strips or webs of sheet material including fabric and paper ofsuitable grades.

In certain of the broader aspects of the invention, and especially in the claims where definitelimitation is not indicated. the word strips used in referring to the reenforcing materials, is intended to generically cover cords as well as paper or fabric strips or hands of sheet material, since all these materials are comprised in the general definition of strips as pieces of relatively long and narrow material.

.lVhile boxds may be made and finished complete without any imprints or surface decorations, it is of course desirable in many or most cases to have suitable advertising or decorative imprints on the box parts. Individual box users may place their own im-' therefore provides structures and production methods adapted to provide the desired imprints in the course of manufacture, and in one preferred example as herein disclosed, the

vidual box blanks so that when the individual blanks are cut otl' from the continuous strip the imprints will be properly located thereon.

The invention also provides in certain cases, for printing suitable indicia-or designs upon the cover paper after assembly contact with the shell web, and these imprints may he in the form of suitable all-over designs, or they may be smaller designs, panels or labels located on one particular part of the cover in the completed box, for instance, an end wall, or panel, or side wall, or the central or body section of thecover area.

The invention al'so -provides for placing suitable imprints upon the inner surfaces of the boxes and particularly for applying any of a great variety of suitable imprints upon the inner or under surfaces of the shell web prior to or after assembly contact with the cover material, and these imprints may correspond to definite blank sections of the shell or assembly, so that when the individual assembly blanks are severed from the continuous assembly the imprints will appear in proper positions on certain inner surface areas of the blank, these of course beingareas which will be exposed and visible when the blank is folded into box form.

Important features are the excising of narrow strips of material from the blanks in the operation of severing the corner laps from the end wings to provide for the proper positioning of the corner laps in a completed box, the moistening of the materials, and especially the moistening of longitudinal fold lines of the shell material to facilitatefolding, and other features referred to hereafter.

The blank and box structures are quite fully shown and described to enable the process to be fully understood; but such structures are not claimed herein but are disclosed and claimed in divisional applications.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention are further sufficiently explained in connection with the followingdetail description of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate diagrammatically different production methods embodying the invention. After considering these examples, persons skilled in the art will understand that many variations maybe made within the principles of the invention, and I contemplate the employment of any methods which are properly within the scope of the appended claims. 1

'51. Figure 2 is a top plan of the same. I Figure 3 is a bottom plan:

Figure 4 is a perspective View.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a severed individual box blan Figure 6 is a fragmentary section enlarged,

o-f'the shell and applied cover paper, showing,

a routed longitudinal fold channel.

Figure 7 shows the same blank section folded, toillustrate the approximate form of a longitudinal box corner.

Figure 8 is a similar view of a folded blank section, to illustrate the approximate form of a completed transverse box corner.

' plete box part produced by the'me'thod illus Figure 9 illustrates an intermediate stage of folding or box formation. r

Fi re 10 is a perspective view of a comtrated in previous figures.

Figure 11 is a detail ins'ection at turned over and ailixed, and for that reason the adhesive is most. desirably apglied to the Figure 9. Figure 12 is a fragmentary detail spective of a modified form of box.

Figures 13 and Marc plan views ofmodified blank end formations.- v

' Figure 15 is a perspectivefview' of a variation in the process' in which reinforcing in percords are suppliedin the course of producigfion ofthe continuousblank assembly.

" Figure16' is a fragmentary view in per 7, spective of one corner of a completed boxembodying the cord reinforcement as provided in Figure 15, the'parts broken away to more clearly explain the structure.

Figure 17 is a plan View of materialsin course of assembly sufiiciently illustrating a.

mode of supplying reinforcements in the form of fabric strips.

Figure 18 is a transverse section -of a box produced from a blank including reinforcements of the character shown in Figure 17.

Figure 19 is a fragmentary detail in perspective of a corner of the same box with portions broken away.

Figure 20 is a similar view illustrating one mode of supplying paper str p reinforcev ments.

Figure 21 is a section at 21-21, Figure20.

Figure 22 is a sideelevation of box materials and certain representative mechanisms diagrammatically represented to explain other performances of the process.

Figure 23 is a perspective view of the same.

Figure 24 is a perspective view of an individual blank produced by the process as shown in Figures 22 and 23, partly folded into box form.

Figure 25 is a perspective view of the completed box part.

In the process as exemplified in Figures 1 to 11 inclusive, a continuous strip of box shell I treatment for certain or body material 1 is advanced from a roll 2 in the direction indicatedby the arrow. This may be any suitable material commonly known as cardboard, and it may in some cases be a high grade board of one of the grades known as folding board,but in order to fully realize one of the economical advantages of theinventionit may bea very cheap board of the grade known as chip board. This is a relatively brittle material requiring special purposes as sufficiently explained hereafter.

A continuous strip of cover or finishing together at a suitable point which is in this. case the point where they pass together be-- tween pressing rollers 5 and 6. Adhesive is supplied in advance of the contact point and this may be applied to either web, but in the present case the-cover web is'wider than the jshell' Web, with extending margins to be mechanism of the offset type in which the impression is produced on a roll 9 and-transferred by it-to another or ofi'set roll 10, and by the offset roll is impressed on the paper 3 in co-operation with an abutment roll-11 over which the web passes. The printing mechanism may be arranged substantially as a unit; as sufficiently" indicated, and it may be adas may be necessary to maintain registration of the individual blank sections or printed areas on the web, so that when the web is applied to the shell and subsequently cut at regular intervals to produce individual box forming blanks, the printed cover pieces will be in the proper positions, orotherwise stated, the

of the paper'is exemplified in the present injusted to or fro in the line of web movement I blurring in any of the subsequent operations.

Figures 2 and 4 show one representative printed pattern produced upon the cover web.

repetitiously, the printing consisting in this case of sections or panels 12, 13 and 14 corresponding respectively to the top or bottom area of the box part as the case may be, the sides and the ends of the completed box part. The dotted lines 15 indicate points at'which the continuous cover web is to be severed along with the shell web when the assembly is At a suitable point beyond the point of initial web contact, the projecting cover margins 16 are folded over by any suitable mechanism such as stationary folders 17, and

pressed on the under side of the shell web by pressing rolls 18.

From the point of initial web contact, or in some cases from the point of marginal turns over, the assembled materials may be con-.

' 'sidered in a broad sense as one example of any suitable continuous box-blank-formingweb having a suitable surface finish to producethe desired exterior appearance of the completed box, this finish being represented in the present instance by the applied cover paper. The continuous web in this form, with or without overturned or lapped cover margins, may be furnished in a roll, and in that case the 'present method will be understood as beginning with the feeding of the continuous box-for1ning web and the operations per formed upon it. p

At asuitable point in the advance of the materials longitudinal fold'lin'es 20 are produced in any suitable way, these lines consisting inthe presentinstance of channels formed in the shell material by a routing process performed by suitable tools such as the grinding wheels 21. VVhere.the complete method includest-he handling of an originally separate shell web as particularlyshown in the drawings, the grinding or routing of the longitucut apart to produce individual box blanks.

dinal fold channels may be performed at a point in advance of the initial assembly-contact point, but otherwise this channeling or routing, or the formation of any other suitable style of fold lines, may be performed after the assembly contact, and of course where the materials are handled as a substantially unitary ,Web the formation of the longitudinal fold lines may be effected at any suitable place, for instance at the point indicated by the grinding wheels 21, which may be employed by these, or alternately with wheels 21, as may be necessary or desirable.

Whilethe exact shape of the longitudinal folding lines or channels may vary consider ably in the preferred instance, and especially when they are produced by routing wheels as above described, these channels 20 are desirably of substantially rectangular cross section as bestshown in Figure 6. The effect of the channeling operation is to produce a narrow strip of the shellmaterial, the bottom 20 of which is of reduced thickness, so that when the cover paper is adhesively applied and the box blank, after severing from the continu- I ous assmbly, is bent along the fold line 20 as best explained in Fig. 7, the sidewalls of the channel are brought close together and the bend in the shell material of course occurs in the strip 20 of reduced thickness which is free at the same time to fold inward slightly approximately as shown in Fig. 7 Especially this construction takes the strain of folding largely away from the cover paper and there is no'tendency for the cover to break or crack along the fold line as would be the case if the thickness of the shell material were not reduced along this line, or if some other suitable provision for the proper folding of the shell material is not made, for instance, as in the case of the-gathered or deep bead transverse crease lines.

' At a suit-able point in the advance of the web, which may be conveniently after the longitudinal fold lines have been produced,

and where there is a cover-margin turn-over,

at a point beyond the point where this turnobject of causing the shell material, when the blank is bent along these fold lines, to bend or crumple inwardly, and relieve the cover paper to a sufiicient extent of the tension and strain incident to folding,-and prevent breaking or cracking of the cover paper along the {old line. Fig. 8 shows a corner of a box folded along one of the beaded fold lines, the thickness of the material being exaggerated to bring out approximately the manner'in which the shell material crumples or bends inward producing a projection or bead 22 on the inside of the box while the cover paper lies smoothly over the exterior of thefold. Ina word, this form of crease permits the bending or distortion to take place inwardly in the shell material without undue strain upon the cover material.

It will be understood from the previous statements: and also in connection with later stages of the process, that the order of operations may be varied considerably, and no significance is attached to the order in which operations are performed except in cases where a given operation cannot be performed except before or after some other'operation,

or when a given operation can more conven- Joe ' iently be performed in a certain rela-tionto the other ones.

At a suitable point in the advance of the Web the longitudinal foldlines are desirably moistened usually by water applied either to the top or bottom of the web, or both; for instance, moisture may be applied to the upper surface of the cover paper on lines corresponding to lines 20 by any suitable moistening devices such as wicks fed from a tank 26; and moisture may be applied to the fold channels 20 themselves by one ora series of moistening rolls 27 running in the grooves, these rolls being provided with felt or other moisture-carrying peripheries and supplied with water-in any desired fashion.

At a suitable point'in the advance of the material, in some cases before and in other casesafter the moistening operations, longitudinal cuts are made to separate portions of the blank which are to become independently foldable parts'of the end structure,

specifically in this case, end wings and corner laps, and these cuts may be simple slits, but more desirably for the present purposes the cutting operations consist in the excision of narrow strips of material, producing slots '28 passingentirely through the web material present specific case through the shell and the cover, suitable provision being made for removing'the strips cut or punched out.

These cut-outs may be made of complemental cutting members on rolls 29 and 30, Fig. 1, and they are usually in line with the longior materials. in the tudinallfold. lines or channels, and of the .same width. In other words, the cutting operation consists in removing a certain length of the thin bottom strip of nel.

The advancing assembly or box-forming web is then severed at regular intervals by suitable instrumentalities such as cutting rolls 31 and 32; and in a particular form of box, or in a box of a certain range of dimensions, this severing may be performed by cutting on a single transverse line 33 at regular inoverturned marginal portions 16 tervals, producing the'individual box blanks B, Figures 4 and 5, the blank consisting of a central or body portion a, side wings 6, end wings 0 and corner laps at extending from the ends of the side wings. Each stated portion of the box blank when roduced as in the present specific instance y the assembly of shell and covermaterials, comprises portions of both materials. inner surface of the shell are overlaid by'the of the cover, and the corner laps are separated from the end wings by portions of "the slots 28 produced in the previously described manner, and Fig. 5 clearly shows'that these slots are most desirably exactly in line with the longitudinal fold lines 20 and of the same width. There is thus produced an inward edge-formation 34 the folding-chan- The outer marginsof the pose being supplied at any suitable stage of operations. Adhesive is shown in Fig. 5 applied to the inner surfaces of the assembly end wing, and this application may be made while the material is still in continuous web form, or after the individual blanks are severed. An alternative method is to a aply adhesive to faces of the corner laps w ich arc outward when folded as shown in Fig. 9. Afterthe end wings are brought against the corner laps the end structure is pressed in one or two stages of operations until the adhesive is properly set or hardened, producing the completed box part (top or body section, as the case may be) sufficiently illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, in which the inturned c0v-- er margins 16 extend all around the inner edge margins of the side and end walls, and the edges of these walls are entirely covered and concealed by the cover paper, and all exterior surfaces of the shell are covered by the cover paper or other finished surface of the shell except the side and end edges 35 and 36 respectively of the shellend wings, which are. left more or less exposed.

In other words, the box is a very close approximation in structure and appearance to the most expensive grade and most comslight departure from the standard of such boxes involved in the partially exposed edges of the shell end wings is not objectionable for many purposes, especially since boxes of the 'pletely finished style of covered box, and the described type may be produced more cheaply than others in which every surface and edge 1s covered. However,

as shown in Fig. 12, 1n some'cases the edges of the-cover material adjacent to the shell edges 35 and 36, or either of them, may l e-pressed over while the adhe-' sive is still moist topartially or entirely overlap the shell edges, as indicated at 37 and 38. Fig. 12. This relative formation of the shell and cover material at these edges may be produccd in varioiis ways, for instance, in some cases by the manner in which the combined materials are cut or severed or otherwise by independent pressing operations.

When the outer surface of the web or par ticularly of the cover cifie example, is printed inthe manner described. the exterior surface of the box part? so produced exhibits, the printed panelspreweb in the present spe-.

from the end firings by cutting out strips viously referred to in the-proper relation to each other and to the position of the box part depending on whether it is a cover or a body part, as sufficiently shown in Figures 10 and 12. I

Figures 13 and 14 sufficiently illustrate variations in the structure and method which depend largely on dimensional considerations. For instance, when the box or, box blank is of such dimensions or shape that while still in the flat the end wings are longer than the corner laps, pieces 39 may be cut away co-extensivewith the width of the blank outside the,longitudinal fold lines, at the'same tirn'e that the individual blanks are severed by cutting along the line 33 or before or after as a separate operation, producing the blank-end formation shown in Fig- 13, or when the endwings are shorter than the corner laps a piece 40 may be excised coextensive with the Width of-the-b0dy-portion of the blank, that-is, between the longi- Q tudinal fold lines, producing the blank-end formation shown in Fig. 14.

The manner of severing the corner laps of material above referred to is particularly adapted to the preferred method of forming deep gathered transverse fold lines 22, as sufficiently shown in the sectional view, Fig. 11. The cut-outstrips as above stated, provide margins 34 of the corner laps which, when the box is foldedjinto proper form, as shown in this figure, lie close along the upper surfaces of the creased folds 22 without .any tendency to tilt or cook up the corner laps as would'be the case if. the margins3i were not produced at the'proper place by'the above or an equivalent operation.

It will be understood thatthe process as above described can be performed either partly or entirely by hand or with the aid of tools of elementary simplicity, but an important feature of the invention is the arrangement of the method so that it can be performed in part. or preferably entirely, by automatic machinery which acts rapidly and practically continuously to produce an immense output of boxes per hour, at very small expense. It has. not been attempted to describe the mechanisms for all of the operations since the features of such mechanism are to -be covered in companion applications, but it is to that it provides what is most conveniently,

identified above as a continuous process of-production. In the broader aspect of the invention this ,word continuous is to be understood in its broadest sense as referring either to the advancing of component mav terials, such as theshell web, cover web, or

plication shown in .paper 41.-

is, without interruption or intermittent action, althongh the movement of the materials is not necessarily continuous, but it may be intermittent at some one or more points depending on the particular design of machinery by which the process is carried out. Ordinarily the materials advance continuously and in unbroken form to the pointof cut-off, and from that'point the individual blanks are forwarded rapidly and without any considerable pause to the folding mechanism or mechanisms in which the blanks may actually come to rest for a brief period of time'while folding and pressing operations are performed.

In some cases it is desirable to provide the shell material with an inner lining which usually consists of paper of suitable grade and finish to provide a desired interior surface finish of the completed box.

to the shell or to the liner, a glue roll 43 being arranged in this particular example to supply adhesive to the inward face of the lining web prior to contact with the shell. As shown in Fig. 15the lining web is united with the shell in advance of the point where the cover margins are turned over, and this provides for the overlapping of the cover margi'nsrupon the lining web which is desirable in most cases. Otherwise, and for example where the cover web does not have rejecting margins to be overturned, the lining web may be applied to the. shell web at another point subse uent to the point of apig. 15. The other operations performed in this case may be substantially the same, and the completed box, for instance, as shown in Fig. '10, may be understood as being lined with the lining It is important in many cases toeprovide reinforcements additional to the reinforcements provided by the lining or cover paper; and Fig. 15 shows a provision in the complete process for applying reinforcements which are in this instance cords which are to be located about box walls near the free edges thereof underneath the cover paper to prevent improper bulging of the box edges or breaking at the corners i ndenthe' strains of service. The reinforcing cords 50 are drawn from spools or balls 51 over guide rolls 52, and when it is desired to apply ads hes'ive to the cords themselves, they are passed over glue rolls 53 prior to their point of incorporation in the continues box-forming Web. The cords are then led under guide rolls 54 by which they may be pressed in contact with the advancing shell web near the side margins thereof. Otherwise the cords may not be glued but may be simply advanced and located on the shell web in the manner described, andshortly thereafter the glued cover paper is brought in contact with the shell over the reinforcing cords. When necessary or desirable, additional amounts of glue may besupplied to the cover paper along lines corresponding to the location of the reinforcing cords, and this may be done for instance by providing the glue roll 7 with annular grooves 55, or additional glue rolls may be provided to supply extra glue for this purpose. The cover paper-is then pressed firmly in position on. the shell web and the cords are thus held in the proper location and .the'

process is carried through substantially as reviously'described. When the individual lanks are severed and folded into box form "as sufficiently shown .in detail, Fig. 16, the cords 50 are located against outer surfaces of the shell side and end wings at a variable point more or less below the edges of the walls, and overlaid by the cover paper. The cords pass across all the corners which mark he intersections of the side wings and corner alps and while the cords are interrupted at the inward edges of the corner laps they are very firmly united at these points to the shell material and the cover material overlying the shell, andthe structure a-t that point is also further reinforced by the adhesively s,e-.

cured end wing structure.

. Instead of cords the reinforcements may such as fabric or paper of' suitable grade'or toughness, such as Kraft paper or tough wrapping paper.- Fig. 17 sufficiently illustrates the application of'strips' of fabric 60 to the shell web 1 prior to application of the cover Web 3. In this instance the reinforcing strips overlie' portions of the shell outside the longitudinal fold lines 20 and extend beyond the edges of'the shell. and also Instead of one strip a plurality of strips may be employed at each side of the box or'the reinforcement may extend over the entire provide for handling thin. flat strip mate-- rial instead of round cord. Fig. 20 shows consist of strips of suitable flexible material.

may as shown, extend beyond the fold lines.-

surface of the shell, with or without projectpaper reinforcing strips applied in a similar fashion under the cover paper,- in this instance with projecting margins, with the fold lines 20 and 20 shown in dotted lines to indicate that the blank may be folded so that the reinforcing strip reinforces the fold line or not, as may be desired. Fig. 21 is a section through the completed blank with a reinforcing strip arranged as in Fig. 20, and Fig. 18 is an enlarged section of a blank with a side wing bent up into box form and including a reinforcement of the kind shown in Fig. 17 with a portion of the reinforcing strip overlying the longitudinal fold line at 20, and withan inturnedmarginal portion of the reinforcing strip overlying the inner margin of the shell and in turn overlaid by the inturned cover margin and with the reinforcing strip 60 also overlying the entire outer surface of the shell side wing, and this reinforcement will also extend over the .surface of the shell cornerlaps in a manner which Willbe obvious by comparisonwith 19, which shows a sectioned corner of a completed box produced from such a blank.

The process may be carried through after application of the reinforcing strips as in Fig. 17 or 20, substantially as in the previous example, and in brief, the reinforcement application both in the method and in the structure, may be performed in connection with other variations in method and structure pre viously pointed out.

The invention thus provides not only for rapid,-continuous and very cheap production of boxes of superior form and finish, but it provides for very strong box structures reinforced at one or more points so that they may be. made to withstand most severe serv ice,-such, for instance, as that required'of shoe boxes and otherfclasses of boxes in which relatively heavy and irregular articles are packed for shipment in cases and for repeated handling on the shelves of retail stores.

One form of the process as sufficiently, illustrated in Figures 22 and 23 provides for printing suitable indicia or designs on the cover paper, in a manner different from that described above'in, connection with Figures 1 to 4. In one particular case this indicium may be in the form of a pattern or label of limited area, to be located in a definite posi-Y tion on the coverwith reference to the position,on the completed box, for instance, the printed design in question may be in the form of a label to be located on one end of the completed box part; and this exemplification of the process also provides for making the imprints on a continuous cover web after its application to the shell web instead of before application, as previously explained in connection with Figures 1 to 4. While the printed matter or designs as applied in this instance are not necessarily limited to a particular area of the cover as it appears in the completed box, and may occupy more or less of the entire cover area, the

arrangement of the printed pattern in more or less distinct areas or panels,'corresponding to distinct portions of the cover in the completed box, for instance, themain or central area of the box part, or the end orside walls, permits the printed designs and the printing instrumentalities to be arranged so as to'avoid-interference with the fold lines or creases and especially with transverse fold lines when they are formed or impressed in the box forming materials. previous to placi-ng the imprints on the cover.- This particular performance of the process also provides for practically any suitable or desired iln prints on the inner or under surface of the I shell web or continuous blank assembly.

and pressed by piessing rolls, all substantially as in the pr vious examples: In one particular performance of the process, at a pointjust beyond thepoint where the cover margins are turned over and secured, transverse fold creases are formed by suitable instrumentalities such as the rolls 23 and 24. The printed subject matter suchas the design or end label 7 0, Figures 23 and 25, is then applied by suitable printing mechanism 75, including the printing roller 76 having a plate or electrotype'77 affixed to its surface. The printing plate or electrotype is of sufficient thickness as substantially shown in Figures-22 and 23, and it is arranged on'the roller,and the roller is of suchidiameter and is so drivenin conformity with the rate of movement of the continuous assembly, that the printed pattern or label is applied to the central portion of the-cover web in a position which corresponds with one of the cover end wings in the completed box, Fig. 25, and also so that the printing rollers do not conflict in any way wlth the previously formed transverse folding creases, as is sufficiently shown in Fig. 22; j I

' At a suitable point in the advance of the materials and in this particular example, at a point beyond the cover printing location, other printing mechanism 80 arranged to apply the suitable imprints'on 'the under or inner surface of the shell web, this mechanism including a printing roller 81 bearing a printing plate or electrotype 82, and this roller is also of such adiameter and driven at such a'speed as to avoid interference with the transverse folding creases 22 previously formed in-the assembly. Figures 24 and 25 or inner rolls 5 and 6.

show the' insi nia of design 86 imprinted on the shell web y the printmg mechanism, the

printed matter consisting in this particular tact, and in that case a quick-drying ink will usually be employed so that the ink will be dry before the web encounters mechanisms which would blur or smudge the printed pattern. In caseswhere a liner is supplied, as in Fig. 15, printing may be dohe on the under surface of the lining web.

Individual blank assemblies B Figure 3,

are severed from the continuous assembly as a in previous examples, and these are folded into box form by any suitable intermediate operations sufliciently represented in Figure 4, producing the completed box part of Figure 5,.Which has substantially the characteristics of the previously described boxeswith any of the suitable variations therein, and

with the addition of external and internal printed matter produced or provided on the box materials in the continuous process of manufacture.

mechanism 90 in general similar to the printing mechanism 8 previously described, which may be employed when desired to imprint suitable subject matter on a surface of.the shell web lprior to assembly contact. These Figure 1 shows representative printing v imprints on the shell may be of any suitable I character as sufliciently explained in connectionwith Figures 22 to 25 inclusive.

Figure 1 also shows a provision for including in the entire process as there illustrated the insertion of a suitable reinforcing strip or web 100 after the general plan of providing reinforcements described in connection with Figures 15, 17 and 20. The re.- inforcing strip or web 100 is drawn from a roll 101 and is adhesively conditioned by a glue roll 102 and is then incorporated in the continuous blank assembly by passing the reinforcement between the shell web and the cover web, all the pai'ts'being pressed and secured in assembly contact between pressing It will be evident from the preceding examples that many features of the general process as explained in-connection with dif ferent figures of the drawing. and also many features of the box blanks and box structures, may be combined in different ways. For instance, provision may be made in the process as shown in Figures 22 and23'for incorporating reinforcements or a lining web; a lining web may be supplied in the general process as shown in Fig. 1 and other variations may be made, too numerous to mention. In most instances it is unnecessary to employ all the process steps or structural features herein disclosed inthe production of a single form of box. The invention provides features which may be combined, however, to produce boxes in considerable variety and of various dimensions but all embodying certain'common characteristics, as will be sufliciently understood from the precedin explanations.

Words used herein to indicate positions, such as top and bottom, upper and lower, and similar words, are to be understood usually as having only a relative significance because evidently in many instances the'relative positions of the materials or of the representative mechanisms illustrated for performing certain operations, may be reversed, Q1 otherwise altered, without departing from the inventive principles involved.

I claim:

1. A method of producing boxes comprising advancing a continuous web of shell material, advancing a continuous web of .cover material and adhesively securing it to a surface of the shell web, routing-out the shell material to a substantial depth to produce continuous longitudinal fold lines, producing parallel gathered transverse fold creases, cutting the combined materials between certain of the transverse creases on lines substantially co-incident with the longitudinal fold lines, severing the continuous assembly transverse- 1y at regular intervals to produce individual covered box blanks, all of said operations occurring in sequence during the advancement of the webs and folding the blanks into box form. v

2. A method-of producing box blanks, comprising producing gathered transverse folding creases, in continuous combined adhesively connected webs of shell and cover material having in the shell material routed out longitudinal'fold lines, excising narrow strips of the combined materials in substantial alignment with the longitudinal fold lines and between transverse folding creases corresponding to adjacent blanks to separate end wing andcorner lap formations, and severing the continuous assembly of webs transversely at regular intervals, all of said operations oc curring "ini-sequence du ring j the advancementof the webs. v

3. A method of producing boxes comprising producing gathered transverse folding creases in combined adhesively connected webs of shell and cover material having in,

the shell material routed out longitudinal fold lines, excising narrow strips of the combined materials in substantial alignment with the longitudinal fold lines and between trans verse folding creases corresponding to adj acent blanks to separate. (and wing and corner lapformations, severing the continuous asweb of'cover material and applying it'to a face of the shell web over the reinforcing strip, supplying adhesive to secure thereinforcing strip and the cover web, turning projecting margins of the cover web and-adhesively securing them to under marginal surfaces of the shell web, producing routed longitudinal folding channels in the shell material,

producing parallel transverse folding creases in the combined materials, cutting the combined materials on the lines of the longitudinal folding channels between folding creases corresponding foadjacent blanks, and

severing the continuous assembly transversely at regular intervals to produce individualbox blanks. I

5. A method of producing boxes. comprising advancing a continuous web of shell material, advancing a continuous strip of reinforcing material to a point of association with the shell web, advancing a continuous web of cover material and applying it to a face of the shell web over the reinforcing strip, supplying adhesive to secure the reinforcing strip and the cover web, turning projecting margins of the cover web andadhesively securing them to under'marginal surfaces of the shell web, producing routed longitudinal folding channels in the shell material, producing parallel transverse folding creases in the combined materials, excising narrow strips of the combined materials on the lines of the longi tudinal folding channels between folding creases corresponding to adjacent blanks, and severing the continuous assembly transversely at regular intervals to produce individual box blanks.

6. A method of producing box blanks from an assembly of adhesively connected shell and cover material, comprising advancing a continuous web of the assembled materials, producing-individual blank end formations in tlie'web, reducing the thickness of the web on the shell material side along longitudinal lines to provide fold formations, creasing the web on transverse lines to provide fold for Inations, and severing the web transversely to produce individual blanks each includin said end'and fold formations.

Signed at New York City, in the countyof 1 New York, and State of New York, this 20th 

